


Disappearing Act

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [97]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mama Bear Stephen Strange, Other, Pets, Protective Peter Quill, Scott Lang is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-16 09:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21505816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: Stephen isn't used to the quiet anymore. Not since moving into the tower. What does he do?
Relationships: Scott Lang/Peter Quill, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Supreme Family Chaos [97]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1364899
Comments: 7
Kudos: 283





	Disappearing Act

" _WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!_ "

Quill's scream has Tony and Stephen jolting up in bed and waking Valerie, and the engineer sighs as he gets out of bed to retrieve their wailing daughter. Stephen looks to the foot of the bed, finds it bare, and sighs when he finds their bedroom door part way open and hears snarling and growling from outside the room. Quill had been out in space when Athena joined the family, and was the only one she hadn't been told was a friend yet because of it. So now she was cornering a supposed intruder and if Stephen didn't take care of it soon, one of them was going to die. He would put money on the wolf being the victim because she wasn't really a match for a god.

"Take care of that so Porcupine can babysit since he woke up Valerie." Tony grumbles as Stephen gets out of bed.  
"Good morning to you too."  
Tony sighs. "Sorry...I didn't sleep well last night." He meets Stephen by the door and kisses him. "Good morning. Please take care of the dog?"  
"She's a wolf."  
"I was talking about Quill."

Stephen snorts in amusement and walks out of the bedroom and descends the stairs. He finds Quill in the kitchen, holding out his hands to placate the snarling creature in front of him, and the doctor steps up next to Athena. The celestial gives him a baffled look when Stephen gently pats her head and then rolls his eyes at the sorcerer's next words.

"It's okay. He's a friend." As if a switch had been flipped off, the white wolf instantly calms and lays down next to the counter as Stephen starts some water for his tea.  
"Is she a new pet?" Quill finally asks once Stephen turns on the stove.  
"In a way. You get to watch Valerie for a little while, by the way. You woke her up."   
"Sorry. To be fair, I wasn't expecting a _freaking wolf_!" Tony joins them at that moment and doesn't waste time in handing Valerie to Quill...with a diaper. "Diaper duty? Seriously?"  
"You woke her up. You suffer the consequences." Tony snarks and the celestial walks into the living room muttering under his breath. "Ah...I don't miss changing diapers."  
Stephen grabs a clean bottle from the dish rack and fills it with water before adding some formula. "I don't either. That's one thing I don't mind making the others do."

He closes the bottle and shakes it up to mix the contents before handing it to Tony, and the engineer throws it into the living room to Quill who catches it without looking. Show off. His Celestial powers were growing if that was anything to go by, and he heard the whole thing about keeping Scott looking young…

Ugh. He could have lived without knowing that.

Once Stephen made his tea, he started on making breakfast, and it didn't take very long for the smell to rouse the rest of their children. Peter took to using the ceiling to get to the kitchen and tried to snag a sausage until Stephen smacked his hand away, Harley made his way over to the fridge to look for something to drink while still half asleep, and Diana went straight for Quill and Valerie. The god had moved to the ground so the five month old baby can play on her mat, and Dia barrels into Quill with a hug before sitting in his lap and chattering endlessly.

"Should I be concerned that our daughter went straight for Quill?" Tony questions and both Peter and Harley snort.  
"With how often she's with Cassie, not really." Peter says as Harley grabs some raw meat out of the fridge and tosses it to Athena after he unwraps it.  
Tony scratches at his beard and starts the coffee machine. "It's been a while since it was just the three of us." He pours some coffee into a mug when it's finished brewing and Stephen turns off the stove. "Maybe I'll take them out today."  
"There's a carnival in town." Stephen suggests. "I'm sure they'd like that."  
"Huh...that's a good idea. FRI...have Cassie come up for breakfast." Quill clears his throat and Tony rolls his eyes. "And the flea I guess."  
"Yes Boss."

Quill scoffs as he grabs Diana in one arm and Valerie in the other, and the older girl giggles when the celestial stands and makes his way into the kitchen with them. Stephen smiles when Valerie coos in curiosity and Quill deposits her into her high chair before setting Diana at the table. Stephen, with the help of the boys, carries plates and food to the table and Cassie and Scott arrive just as everyone sits down. Athena, of course, moved to lay at Stephen's feet since she didn't seem to like being away from him when she could help it. The exceptions being when he went out on errands and she couldn't accompany him, or when he opened a portal for her to the lake house so she can run around. 

Otherwise, where Stephen went, she followed. With the help of some magic, the sorcerer made sure she understood that certain commands were to be obeyed if the family or even a team member were to give them. Once again though, Stephen was the one she listened to most. Everyone else could at least tell her no, back down, or to come and she obeyed without issue.

Stephen only allowed her by the table because she wasn't begging for scraps.

"How does a day at the carnival sound? Just the three of us?" Tony asks Diana and Cassie before taking a bite of his eggs.  
Cassie looks at Scott with a smile. "Can I?!"  
"Sure." Scott replies with a shrug. "I was just going to run some errands and get some work done."  
Quill sputters. "So much for my plans!"  
"Later big guy." Scott winks and all of the teens exclaim in disgust.

When breakfast is finished, Cassie and Diana leave with Tony to head to the carnival, Scott and Quill head back down to their floor when Stephen relieves the celestial of babysitting duty, and Stephen starts cleaning up. At least until Harley and Peter surprisingly take over. They did have a point though. He made everyone breakfast so someone else should clean up, and he left them to it to watch tv in the living room. Valerie was once again set on her mat to play and Stephen sat on the couch with Athena at his feet. Tibbs joined the baby to play, and when the boys were done, they actually sat on either side of the sorcerer and cuddled up with him.

It was nice, but also suspicious. They never wanted a cuddle session this early in the morning unless they were sick.

Stephen sighs. "Alright...what do you two want?"  
"Since Dad took Cassie and Dia to the carnival, can we go to the mall? They have this new-" Harley starts and Stephen holds up his hand.  
"There's a new something or other you can't afford and want to know if you can borrow my card." The doctor finishes as he pulls his wallet out of his pants and hands the card over to his oldest. "Get whatever you want. _Within reason._ "

Harley and Peter whoop in excitement and scramble off of the couch to go upstairs and get dressed, and Stephen sighs again when they disappear onto the elevator. They barely managed to toss a thank you over their shoulders before the doors closed, and it left Stephen feeling pretty lonely. Valerie wasn't much for conversation (any really), and the him before his accident would have loved the silence. The Stephen now though? He was used to the chaotic energy of his family and the team. Even with the tv going and Valerie babbling around a block she's chewing on, it was too quiet. If he wanted quiet, he would have opened a gateway to the cabin. Something he did on the rare occasion when the noise did get to be too much.

"You're not going to ditch me too are you?" Stephen jokingly asks the infant on the floor and she looks over at him with drool covering the block and her hand. "I wouldn't be surprised if you skipped crawling and went straight to walking."

Nothing of the sort happened. Valerie was happy to continue gnawing on her block and drool all over it and her hand. Tibbs grew bored of it and decided to wander off elsewhere and Stephen didn't blame him. Stephen was a little bored too. Then he remembered the book he left in the kitchen last night and got up to retrieve it from the counter it was sitting on. A mystery novel. He always liked to try and guess who committed the crime and how. It was also nice to do some reading that didn't have to do with the mystic artes.

He turns to return to the living room and looks toward Valerie and his eyes widen as his book falls out of his hand. The mat was empty. The baby was nowhere to be seen. _Nonono_ , Stephen screams internally as he rushes forward to look for his daughter. There was no way Valerie got very far in the two seconds he had his back turned, but he couldn't find her in or under anything nearby. She was barely scooting for Vishanti's sake! 

Every hiding place he checked that he found deprived of his baby just added more stress until he was finally hyperventilating. The doctor and the sorcerer in him were being thrown to the far recesses of his mind while Mom took over, and Mom wasn't thinking straight. 

No, Stephen was currently having some mom panic.

Some very small part of him that was still aware of FRIDAY _and_ VICTOR asking him if he was alright, and even Athena was nudging his leg with a worried whine. They all likely detected his sudden spike of distress, but he was too busy trying not to black out from lack of oxygen. He knew he should be looking for Valerie, but his body wouldn't let him. He was frozen on the spot. Did Tony have to go through this with Diana? Maybe it was worse with her because she was a baby with magic. The engineer never complained about anything, but for all Stephen knew, Diana could have sneezed and disappeared on him.

Maybe Valerie was a magic baby after all? 

Oh god. What if she managed to throw herself into another dimension? A hell dimension-

"...phen...STEPHEN!" The sorcerer gasps quietly when the shout disrupts his panicking thoughts and he finds Scott standing in front of him looking concerned. "Hey. There we go. Breathe."  
"I-I can't find her." Stephen stammers as the younger leads him to the couch and makes him sit down. "I looked everywhere! I only looked away for a second--"  
"It's okay. It happens. Quill's looking right now."

Stephen looks up at the celestial and notices the galaxy colors overtaking the entirety of his eyes, and then he walks off toward the kitchen. The sound of a chair being moved is followed by the god speaking softly before he returns with baby Valerie in one of his arms, and the remaining black in Stephen's vision finally ebbs away when he heaves a sigh of relief. Quill hands her over to the sorcerer and Stephen holds his daughter close to his chest as he wills his heart to stop pounding.

"Let me just say, we never want to see a panicking Mama Bear again." Quill says as he rubs his eyes. "If you lose your shit, then we all lose our shit."  
" _Quill._ " Scott warns.  
Stephen swallows thickly. "I didn't mean to. I looked for her...but then the panic managed to take over."  
"FRIDAY called us up. Apparently we're the only ones in the tower right now and she said you were in distress." Scott explains.  
"We hauled ass up here, saw you freaking out, and Victor told us it happened after Val army crawled into the kitchen right behind you."   
"Why do all of my kids have to be exceptional for their age?" Stephen laments.  
"Because their parents are." Scott responds with a smirk.

Stephen was used to chaos, but this scare was not what he had in mind. Now he was exhausted after his panic attack, but he continued to hold Valerie close and she miraculously was content to stay in her mother's arms. Quill and Scott stayed to keep him company, and before any of them knew it, Stephen had fallen asleep with his back to Quill's side after the celestial sat on the couch next to him to watch tv. He didn't dare move either. They didn't disturb him until his hold on Valerie started to loosen, and Scott finally stepped forward to carefully take her from Stephen and then throw a blanket over the sorcerer. 

Athena took the opportunity to jump onto the couch now that the baby wasn't with Stephen, to lay between him and the couch, and gently rest her head on his stomach. At least that's what he woke up to a couple of hours later. His wolf lying next to him both to protect and comfort him, his shoulder no doubt digging painfully into Quill's ribs, and the baby missing again. He didn't panic this time because he heard Scott talking to her and quite possibly tickling her since she was laughing pretty hard for a baby.

He was lucky to have friends like them. Friends that would step in to babysit without being asked after he had a small meltdown and needed to rest because of it. Friends that wouldn't complain about the shoulder jabbing into their ribs because he was comfortable...and even the wolf that refused to leave his side when she had a say in it. If she had her way, Athena would never leave it. 

"Val's going to be the next one to pass out if you keep going Sugar." Quill jokes  
"She's fine." Another adorable baby laugh. "She could probably use a nap herself though." Scott admits.  
"Whatever helps keep Stephen asleep." Quill mumbles. "I don't think he knows what relaxing is anymore. Even _Tony_ was getting concerned."  
"He does a lot. He's a husband--"  
"Wife." Quill corrects with a snigger."  
Scott ignores him. "A mom, the Sorcerer Supreme, a housewife, a doctor, and yes...even though it started out as a joke, he's our matriarch. He does a lot for us as well as his family."  
"He needs a day off."  
Scott snorts. "We've said that and he said, and I quote, 'If I take a day off, I will undoubtedly come home to a disaster and there will have been no point to my day off.'"  
"Well with Harley as one of his kids, he has a point-- _ow!_ " Quill hisses at the elbow to his spleen and Stephen sits up, making Athena lift her head. "I was kidding!"  
"Harley is a little weasel sometimes but only me and Tony can say that about him." Stephen half threatens. "Sorry for falling asleep."  
Scott waves his hand at him. "It's fine. You needed it...and you don't need to worry about dinner either. Tony called and said he would pick something up after he got the boys from the mall."  
"He called you?"  
"No. He called you, but you were dead to the world so I answered your phone." Quill corrects. "He asked why I had your phone and I told him that your mouth was too busy-"

Disgust and mortification make themselves known on Stephen's face at Quill's implication, and Scott rolls his eyes as he picks up Valerie and places her in her playpen. Afterwards, he approaches Quill and smacks the back of his head with an annoyed look.

"I would never-" Stephen starts to argue.  
"He never said that in the first place." Scott quells the doctor immediately. "He told Tony you had a bit of a scare but everything got handled and you were taking a nap."

Then Stephen got an idea and a wicked grin quickly replaces the mortification as he directs the smile at Quill. The celestial looks at him nervously and then bolts for the stairs next to the elevator when Stephen turns to Athena and gently pets her head. As soon as Quill disappears through the door, Stephen points toward the stairway.

"Get him...but be nice."

He and Scott watch Athena jump off the couch and chase after the god, and Stephen smirks when he hears Quill call him an asshole before the door to the stairway closes.

"Am I going to get my husband back in one piece?" Scott wonders.  
"Of course. She just needs the exercise." Stephen assures him as he stands up. "Juice? Beer?"  
"I could use the sugar."  
"Juice it is."


End file.
